Measure E: Who Really Cares About Alameda?

One of my favorite sections of the Robles-Wong et al v California complaint filed last Thursday** comes right in the beginning, where the attorneys quote just what the California Constitution says about public education:

A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral and agricultural improvement. (Cal. Const., art. IX, Section 1.)

Being an ardent advocate of public education, there’s a part of me that thrills to this very basic idea that education is “essential” to the “rights and liberties” of a people. But as I was reading the complaint last night, I couldn’t help but contrast this inspiring idea (a society/community needs educated members) with the actions of the Committee Against Measure E in this campaign.

I’ve held off on writing about this stuff for months, in part because I don’t believe in “going negative” in a campaign, and in part because much of it is so unseemly it doesn’t bear the dignity of response. But while confiding in a friend last night about how troublesome it all is, she visibly recoiled, and said, “Most Alamedans don’t know this. I think it’s really important that they do.”

Lauren Do has covered much of this over at Blogging Bayport. But I’ll summarize some of it. Specifically, over the last three months, the Committee Against Measure E, which was founded and is now led by Edward Hirshberg, who lives in Oakland but owns several commercial properties in Alameda, has:

Posted a video on YouTube that accuses nine Alameda parcel tax supporters (including me) of being wealthy, racist, East End residents who don’t want their children to go to school with West End children. The video also included a map of where those supporters live.

In addition to being defamatory (and dangerous), the video is ridden with misinformation. E.g., about half of the people targeted either live in the West End or send their children to West End schools. Two of the targets work, professionally, with low-income people and/or people of color. None of the claims were backed up by interviews with the targets or any public record of them ever having uttered a racist statement. (That video was taken down by YouTube due to a terms of use violation.)

Continued to claim that the parcel tax is supported only by a small group of East End and Gold Coast elites, despite being shown again and again, that Measure E is drawing support from all across the Island, including every school on the West End. (You can see the full list of endorsers here.)

Totally misinterpreted the potential effect of Robles-Wong v California on AUSD finances by saying it negates the need for Measure E, when in fact AUSD, APLUS, and every article written about Alameda’s role in this suit clearly said the lawsuit would bear no results for many years and that a short-term fiscal crisis remains.

Made sundry and ludicrous other claims about parcel tax supporters, including (my favorite) that parcel tax supporters were making their “young children” harass No on E volunteers” (as if any sane parent would sic their 40-pound 1st grader on an adult).

Committee Against Measure E

I’m not writing this to “go negative.” But as you get your ballots this week and make a decision on how to vote, I have to ask you to consider this: Who really cares and knows about the community and families of Alameda? Thousands of parents, a dozen local organizations involved in our community, and a public school district responsible for the education of 9500 children? (Again, you can see the full endorsement list here.) Or a group run by a man who doesn’t live in Alameda, whose only “roots” here, in fact, are his commercial properties, and who seems hell-bent on creating division, rather than unity, in our town?